Tensions over immigration enforcement are rising after new reports. ICE is using a high‑tech tool from Palantir to track people for possible deportation. The tool links health and benefits data to individuals. The reports gained attention after Alex Pretti was killed by a Border Patrol officer in Minneapolis. The incident has increased scrutiny of ICE. That event has put ICE’s actions under close national scrutiny.
Palantir Faces Backlash Over Immigration Enforcement Tools
The tool is called ELITE. It gathers government data, including Medicaid records, to profile people ICE may target. It gives officers a “confidence score” and flags potential arrest targets. Critics worry it could turn health data into surveillance.
Palantir is a Denver‑based software company that works with government agencies. Last year it signed a $30 million contract with ICE through 2027 to build ImmigrationOS, an AI platform to track immigrant movements.
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Neither Palantir nor the Department of Homeland Security has explained how ELITE works. Civil rights and privacy experts have criticized the partnership. They say using health data in immigration enforcement raises ethical and legal concerns.
Health Data Used for Deportation Raises Alarm
Reports suggest that ICE’s use of Medicaid data could affect as many as 80 million Americans. Last year the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services signed a data‑sharing agreement with ICE. The deal gives ICE access to personal information from Medicaid recipients. The full scope of the agreement became public after a lawsuit by 404 Media and the Freedom of the Press Foundation revealed how health data may be shared with immigration enforcement.
Digital rights organizations have raised strong concerns about this arrangement. The Electronic Frontier Foundation said the tool could act like a dragnet and lead to people being targeted for arrest based on health information. Critics worry that using such sensitive data for immigration enforcement blurs the line between public benefit programs and policing.
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Many people fear that this could discourage immigrant families from seeking medical care or benefits. They worry that health records could be used to identify or arrest them or their loved ones. Health advocates and civil rights groups have expressed these concerns.
Experts also warn that it is very difficult to separate medical data by legal status. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, CMS datasets do not allow clear distinctions between citizens, legal residents, and undocumented immigrants. As a result, sensitive information belonging to many people could be used in immigration enforcement and put innocent individuals at risk.
Tech Industry Backlash and Employee Pushback
Palantir’s involvement in immigration enforcement has triggered both public and internal criticism. Tech workers from major companies, including Palantir, Google, and OpenAI, have signed a public letter urging CEOs to cancel contracts with ICE. As of Monday, the letter had amassed 450 signatures.
Former Palantir employees have also spoken out. Thirteen ex-workers wrote a letter criticizing the company’s close ties to ICE and the Trump administration, arguing that the company’s work “normalizes authoritarianism under the guise of a ‘revolution’ led by oligarchs.”
Palantir CEO Alex Karp has said the company supports these contracts because they help national security and combat serious crime. However, the new reports show that the company’s technology now plays a bigger role in civil immigration enforcement.
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Palantir also holds smaller contracts with other agencies, including U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, which handles citizenship applications and works closely with ICE. The company has not disclosed many details about these contracts, and critics say that lack of transparency raises concerns.
As scrutiny grows, digital rights advocates and immigrant rights groups are highlighting the ethical and legal challenges of repurposing health data for enforcement actions. Movements like “No Tech for ICE” continue to call for accountability from tech companies that supply tools used in immigration enforcement, emphasizing the risk to privacy and civil liberties.
